Once Upon A Midnight [IC]

[Dr Archeville]

The door to the mausoleum Avenger had been standing ominously over slowly opened with a loud CREEEEAK. An eerie green glow could be seen from within, but it soon became apparent the source of the glow was moving. Slowly the source of the light was revealed -- the glowing green eyes of some sort of hideous zombie, shambling out of the tomb!

"Good lord, people, do you know what time it is?" it said in a notably Southern, and (clearly feigned) indignant voice. "Y'all are bein' loud enough t'wake the dead!"

[Geez3r]

"Da, ve know. Your neighbor told us off already." replied Atlas as he jerked his thumb at Avenger. Atlas was debating bringing Dead Head up to speed, but he would have probably guessed it in a moment anyways. After all, they were all in the civies more or less at this point. Out of the Midnighters, Atlas liked Dead Head the best. He was someone he could relate to. Dead Head was stuck the way he was, and onlookers would instantly know he was different just by looking at him, and people would judge him by what they saw. But there was the very real possibility that the weight of this drove Dead Head mad so kind of a double edged sword there.

[alderwitch]

"Hello, Deadhead," Taylor greeted the zombie with a quick smile. Out of costume, Taylor was a much friendlier figure than her alter ego. She pivoted to include him in their circle and leaned her denim clad hip against a gravestone. "You haven't missed much. I think you knew Avenger was a vampire. Hellion's appologized for the near destruction of the world and I have promised Atlas that I am neither a werewolf nor a robot."

Her cheek dimpled as she added, "And Avenger has promised next time we get chairs."

[Avenger Assembled]

"I couldn't get ahold of the robot's landline," said Jack with a shake of his head. Though startled by Dead Head's rather abrupt arrival, he ran with that. "What matters is, all of us are the kind of people who don't play very well with others. For one reason or another," he added with a nod James' way. "This is a very nice city. But most of the people here, the other heroes? They don't really understand what it's like at midnight in the Fens, when the lights go out and there's nothing but monsters on either side of you. We can deal with that. We are those monsters. And we can keep the city safe, together. Just like we did during the Invasion."

[Geez3r]

Atlas chuckled. "Heh. It's a little hard to take all of zis seriously vhen ve've done nozing but tell jokes zis entire time. 'Ve are zose monsters'? Maybe on ze outside, but on ze inside ve're just a bunch of normal peoples. You may have ze mannerisms of a spooky guy down pat, but I just don't zink I could do it zat vell... I mean its not like I have much to vork vith. Sure I'm like 12 times bigger zan a normal person, and sure I have zis vierd skin color, and sure I have muscles on top of muscles, but in ze long run, most people don't zink I'm zat scary. But day, I'm up for a team if zat is vhat you are zinking about." Atlas actually manages to get through that little speech with a straight face.

[Cyroa]

James shrugged. "There are demons in name and demons in spirit. Only one of which are human. Humanity can be it's own monsters quite often. Some people just don't have it in them to be a member of society. And some need policing to keep it from hurting others. Whether its some monsters, actual demons or just really sick people who are little better than demons, most regular people and heroes can't get their head around and grasp how different those things are from regular folk. Be they from this world/plane or another." He shrugged. "Sometime you need to get dirty to figure those things out and fix them."

[alderwitch]

"I think its more about the fact that our outsider status makes us a little more understanding about each other's oddities," Taylor opinioned thoughtfully, pausing before she spoke, "Jack and I both think we could all work pretty well together as a team when the need arises. This conversation is really about what we need to do that. The last team we were on crumpled under the weight of several secrets. My particular duties tend to make me close-mouthed but I'm here to answer any questions persoanlly or professionally. We can't build the level of trust up in a day but we can get off on the right foot."

Taylor chuckled, "Although its certainly easier for me to talk like this than as Phantom. I've played the role in costume for so long that its just second nature to be the taciturn mystic."

[Dr Archeville]

"A team, hunh?" Dead Head said, tilting his head left and right as if it were a set of scales weighing something. "Gotta admit, when I trudged my way up here, that's about the last thing I ever expected to be asked. As long as we're bein' up front an' honest, though, I've gotta say that th' only folks I've ever worked with fer any extended time were the spirits o' the dead, and then it was just 'til I helped solve whatever problems was plaguin' 'em... but even then, it was still me doin' all the work. What ah'm tryin' t' say is, I ain't used t'havin' someone else there with me, there fer me. This... this'll all be very new t'me."

"Oh," he tuned to Hellion, "what was that she said about you almost destroying th' world? I wasn't in the best of shapes, mentally or physically, during th' big demonic invasion -- did I miss the memo explaining yer involvement?"

Dead Head's voice remained flat and even, and his face had gone slack. It looked like he was going to give everyone a chance to explain things -- things he was sure they'd already explained to others, possibly many, many times by now -- but he'd been out of the loop on it all. During the Demonic Invasion, he'd been constantly assaulted by the screams and wails of all those who'd been killed, and could barely hear anything, even if that one demon hadn't picked him up and crushed him into a tight ball and threw him down the block.

[Cyroa]

James nodded. "I'm up for it. It'll help keep me busy," he said with wry grin. Being on two different teams plus working with Phantom was definitely going to keep busy.

He glanced over at the zombie. "Yeah. Phantom at least knew already. But since we're doing that whole 'honesty' thing, I mentioned it here. The whole thing was my fault. I summoned the demons, let them in. Pretty much directed the army. Lot more to it than that, but yeah. That's the short version."

[Geez3r]

"I zink zat zis is a new one for everyone Head. Ve kind of tick off a few of zose minority categories."

After Hellion finished talking, there was a bit of a pause on Atlas' end. He looked at Hellion for a moment before saying "And ze reason ve're not pounding you into ze ground so you don't do it again is...?" Atlas looked like he was half ready to get up off the ground and slug Hellion if he gave a smart alek answer.

[alderwitch]

"His father is one of the demon lords. The part that James is leaving out is that he was captured by his father, beaten and broken. He lasted a full week in hell before he succumbed to the corruption," Phantom volunteered quietly, "He was used as the weapon he was bred to be. James was also the one the who closed the gate. He was the only one who could."

She raised her shoulders in a shrug and leaned her hands back against the grave marker only to frown as she encountered the snow on it. Frowning, she brushed the moisture from her hands as she added, "For whatever my word is worth, I vouch for James."

[Geez3r]

"It's vorth a lot actually." said Atlas quietly to Taylor. Turning to Hellion "If she says you're ze only one who could have saved us, zen I believe you. You did ze right zing in ze end and zat's all zat matter ven you zink about it." said Atlas sagely as he sat back down on the ground. "Just... don't do it again. Zat day sucked."

[Dr Archeville]

"Sounds like that's another good reason for us to stick together, then," Dead Head said after a moment, "t'keep an eye on each other, an' make sure we don't slip to our monstrous ways, or that others don't push us down that way."

"Ah mean... just look at us. Ah mean, really look at us." Dead Head turned to Hellion, "ya just said you caused all that mess, and who's to say it cain't happen again? Not sayin' you would let it happen, just that it could. And you," he tuned to Avenger, "yer some kind of super-vampire. I hear lots o' the Leeches look up to ya, or at least respect ya. Well, fear might be a better word. And we know you ain't got that Hunger licked, there's always that Beast in ya cravin' warm blood. Heck, what ya did during the Invasion may've even made it stronger."

"Then there's Hoss over here," he said as he twisted to face Atlas. "We all seen what you can do, and if'n you ever lose it, well, I don't even wanna think about how we'd try t'calm you down. And you, ma'am," he said, twisting again to face Phantom, "you got all sorts of magic I ain't even gonna try to describe, and we've all heard that 'power corrupts' and 'those who fight monsters should take care that they never become one, fer when you stand an' look long into the abyss, the abyss also looks into you' things."

"And then, of course, there's me," he said as he untwisted his body back into a normal form. "Fortunately, unlike most undead, I don't have any sort of Hunger, not for brains or flesh or anythin' like that, though eatin' meat does let my body repair itself faster. What I do got it a voodoo god, a megalomaniacal arch-lich, and who knows how many cultists looking t'turn me into Generalissimo Undeado of some New Undead World Order, not t'mention all the spirits I hear every day callin' out fer bloody revenge on whatever wrongs they felt were visited upon 'em in life, an' wantin' me t'be their instrument o' revenge."

[Geez3r]

"Heh. Zis has got to be ze weirdest group in Freedom. So basically Head, you just vant to make sure zay zis band of monsters stays on ze up and up? Vell, ve could certainly come up vith vorse reasons to stay together." mused Atlas with shrug. Atlas didn't really think that anyone here was in danger of loosing control of themselves. It seemed as though they had all come to terms with what they were. Then again, he himself had not. Maybe it was better if he stayed with this group, at least until he figured out what he was.

[Cyroa]

James shrugged. "I actually agree with DH. It could easily happen. Anyone can be broken with enough time. I've got other friends keeping an eye one me as well, but more is never a bad thing. We all know how bad things could go. Watching ourselves is a pretty good idea in addition to taking on all the other issues the others just can't handle. I certainly don't want to have to go through all of that again."

He looked over and grinned at the last comment. "We are definitely the oddest group of heroes ever."

[alderwitch]

Taylor slanted an unreadable glance at Jack before she sighed. Somewhat reluctantly, Taylor explained, "While its true that anyone can really be broken, I've got far more controls on my behavior than most. I'm the Chosen of Heshem and granted both abilities and duties by that goddess. I have to patrol the barriers of the dimensions and put things right when they go wrong. I'm bound to it. Although when I was human, I was born in this city, I don't really belong to this world any more. Or any of them."

Resisting the urge to glance away, Taylor continued on doggedly, "I generally end up at loggerheads with everyone eventually over those duties. I don't expect any of you to stand by me, but you should know that its neccessary."

[Dr Archeville]

Patrolling barriers between this world and another? Puttin' right things what went wrong? Dealin' with angry spirits?

"Heh, almost sounds like you an' me got more in common than I thought," Dead Head chuckled.

"So what're we gonna call our lil' group?," the revenant continued. "An' do we get a fancy clubhouse? 'Cuz if we do, I know someone who might help with the decor."

[Avenger Assembled]

"I have a place," said Jack. "It's secure, and protected so heavily that even the sharpest-eyed people in Freedom City can't find it. Believe me, I have reason to know. It's also big enough to accommodate all of us," he added. "Special needs or not." His mouth quirked in a smile. "As for my dietary needs, I think you'll find them the least of your worries when we're in the field. What matters is that we can work together to make sure we're all on the right side." He thought for a moment. "Midnight Freedom. That's what we're all here for, isn't it? Because we're the ones who come out when the nice respectable people go to bed."

[Cyroa]

He nodded at Phantom in agreement. If anyone could understand the need for her position, he could. He agreed with her, someone needed to do it. And given who he was and what he could do, he had every intention of helping her do it. "I'll stand with you. I understand well your task."

He rolled his eyes but chuckled. "More secret bases. I'm really going to need a costume if I keep this up." He shook his head. "Too long. Needs to be shorter and direct. At least in my opinion. We're not some fancy group. No fancy name."

[Geez3r]

"Needs vork." says Atlas in regards to the name. He leans back, so he's now lying on the ground looking up at the sky, hand's neatly tucked behind his head. He closes his eyes and looks like he's about to nod off for a little nap. After its quiet for a moment, he cracks open an eye. "Vat!? I'm not ze idea one on ze team. I'm ze hit zings guy. Vell, ve other one. ...Vell, ze other, other one anyvays. Besides, names in English are hard."

[alderwitch]

"Why not just the Midnighters? That's what it'll get shortened to anyway," Taylor suggested, flashing a quick smile over in Jack's direction before she replied to James, "Its not so much a secret base as a home. Our home, actually."

Taylor gestured between Jack and herself before she added, her expression solemn as she made the overture of trust, "And we'd like to open it to the three of you. I can promise we'll have chairs, even for Atlas."

She smiled over at the giant with that.

[Geez3r]

"And vhat is zat supposed to mean!? I'll have you know zat I'm big-boned and I have a zyroid condition." says Atlas with mock indignation. "But I zink zat ze "Midnighters" is a good name da? And I was..." Atlas paused for a moment. You could see the hamster wheel turning. "...Vait a minute. You said 'Our home.' does zat mean zat ze two of you are togezer?"

[Avenger Assembled]

"We are," replied Jack, feeling an odd rush of pleasure at the words. And why wouldn't he? He was a man in love, after all, or so he reminded himself nearly every night. "I also work out of our place, so if it's not an emergency, I'd appreciate it if you call ahead before you visit. It's difficult to find without directions anyway."

[Cyroa]

"Works for me," he said, nodding at the final name suggestion. He grinned. "Yeah, you're big boned. In that your thigh bone probably weighs as much as I do and is night unbreakable. I'm telling you, a forklift is you perfect chair. It even lets you adjust the height," he said bemusedly.

James nodded. "No worries. I can find it but I'm certainly not staying there. Like I want to see you two getting all lovely-dovey every 10 minutes. Just 'cause I don't eat that often doesn't mean I want to loose what little lunch I have," he said grinning. He could care less what Jack was; he wasn't acting like a monster and killing people. Taylor didn't exactly fit in the 'normal human' mold anymore either. He could be happy for them being in love but it didn't mean he wasn't going to poke fun at the whole 'new love' thing. "'Sides, I've got places of my own to stay and other responsibilities too."

[Dr Archeville]

"Er... I'm guessing that 'open yer home to us' just means 'fer Midnighters business'," Dead Head asked, a slightly confused look on his face, "and not fer, like, just crashin' anytime, or a permanent living- er, co-habitation situation, right? 'Cuz, like James here, ah don't wanna be intrudin', and I'm comfy here anyway. 'Sides, I tend to... leak, and stain things."

"I would need directions, though," the revenant added. "Unless someone here," he gestured towards the graves around them, "knows where it is."